I prefer an AR-15. I carried both an AR and 870P for the past 11 years until very recently I sold my shotgun (I prefer to carry my personally owned weapons). I found the only time I ever pulled it out was for animal defense. SRCSO has both ARs (mix of old bushmasters and newer colts) and shotguns (mix of older 870s and newer 590s) for issue, and it’s the individual’s choice to take one or the other or both, or carry your personal. I personally have the somewhat unpopular opinion that shotguns are outdated for defensive use. I’m not walking into a potential gunfight with only 4-6 rounds in the mag, especially as a civilian with no secondary.
Also most people’s fears of over-penetration is unfounded. It has more to do with bullet selection than caliber/platform. That said, for a shotgun, if your not using Federal flightcontrol, your wrong lol. 8 pellet OO
Also if I were in the market for a defensive shotgun, it’d be a Berretta 1301
Deadly Threat Defense LLC
Firearms Training near Pensacola, FL
Good answers and thanks. I am concerned relative to building materials and a bullet striking a house a mile away. The characteristics of 5.56 bullets relative to penetration are very velocity dependent. This is something that I need to learn more about.
My newer ARs are in 6.5 and 30 cals that do penetrate better in materials. A 5.56 upper is easily obtained and might be safer to use in a populated area.